Conventional mail piece inserter designs include a gripper chain, a mechanical index box, and a simple constant rotational speed AC motor that powers the system. In such devices, the gripper chain is driven fifty percent (50%) of the cycle and is stopped fifty percent (50%) of the cycle. When the gripper chain is stopped, the envelope is prepared (grippers open, insertion cups open the envelope, and the fingers are inserted), and then the mail piece item (e.g., collation) is inserted. The gripper chain is stopped the same amount of time (fifty percent of the cycle) whether the inserter is inserting a collation having the minimum depth collation (such as 3.7 inches, for example) or the maximum depth collation (such as 9.5 inches, for example). Thus, in conventional inserters, when inserting a collation smaller than the maximum size collation (9.5 inches in the example above), there is a wasted portion of the cycle when the gripper chain is stopped after the collation has been inserted, and prior to the beginning of the next cycle.
There is a desire to provide an apparatus and method which allows for either faster throughput when the inserter is being used with collations smaller than the maximum size collation, and/or which allows for slower operating speeds of the gripper chain when the inserter is being used with collations smaller than the maximum size collation.